The Antebellum
by Vatonage
Summary: Cruelty and corruption had run rampant ever since it began: the great war. It had been happening ever since anybody could remember, yet nobody knew why... could it be stopped? How far would you go to save your world from the darkness? Set in a separate universe with no humans. Temporarily on hiatus.
1. The First Beginning

Authors Notes: First non one-shot fic, so I hope you enjoy! From a pokemon's POV, no humans.

(Seth's POV)

"Ughhh... morning already?" I groaned, as the fierce sunlight shattered my gentle sleep.

"Might as well face the day now that I'm already awake," I grumbled in my tiredness.

I slowly tottered my way out of my mother's and my own shelter. _Mom must still be asleep,_ I thought. _She deserves a good rest for everything she has done for me. It must be hard raising a child on your own..._

I let out a great yawn and stretched, attempting to expel the sleep that still remained in my eyes. I slowly panned my surroundings, taking in the smell of the morning dew and the peaceful village.

It was a quaint little village; no more than 50 or 60 pokemon could have resided here. Everywhere you looked there were shaggy little shelters just barely big enough for a family, yet everybody living here was happy enough; we all didn't need much, just a little company. The village folk were the kind of people who did honestly care when they asked how you were doing. I loved all my neighbors and this small little place, although the same old same old of everyday life here did sometimes take a toll on you.

"Seth!" Yelled a blur of periwinkle, rapidly approaching me.

"What's wrong Penny?" I questioned, curious at the slight urgency in the glaceon's voice, paired with the fact that she was up so abnormally early.

Penny and I had been friends ever since I could remember: since before I evolved into the leafeon I am. Frankly, I couldn't even remember a time when we weren't friends; It was a rare sight to see one of us without the other. I felt very comfortable around her.

A light blush arose to my cheeks at the thought, but I quickly brushed it off. There were more important matters at hand.

"Elder Cyph says he needs to talk to us," uttered the glaceon, once she had caught her breath from the run over.

"Elder Cyph? What could he possibly need from us?" I wondered, my curiosity piqued.

"Beats me," she said with a warm smile, "but I hope it's somethin' good. I could use some good excitement."

We somewhat briskly made our way to the cave by the lakeshore, talking about this and that until we approached Elder Cyph's cave.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Oh I don't know," Penny stated, "he sent one of the villagers to tell me to get you, then to make our way over to his cave. He told me it was no rush."

"Then why did you run to get me? And by the way, why were you up so early in the first place? You're not usually awake 'till at least sunhigh."

"Uhhh..." she stuttered, suddenly flushed, "...we should check for Elder Cyph around the other side of the bluff."

"Good idea," I replied, slightly confused by the sudden change of subject. I made a mental note to bring it up later.

As we rounded the bluff I thought to myself, _what the heck could be around this corner?_ Boy was I in for a surprise...

(Copernicus's POV)

"But how do you know we are the chosen ones? The chosen could be anybody," I bluntly replied.

"Oh be quiet, Copernicus. Just let him finish!" my younger sister complained, whilst rolling her eyes.

"Now Eona, your brother has a point. Let me show you two something: please follow," replied the elder, in a level tone of voice.

He led us into the abandoned village library, down a dimly lit dreary corridor, and then to a stop at an enormous cast iron double door, with a rusty padlock firmly holding it together. I shared a nervous glance with my sister; what in the name of Arceus was going on?

"Now, what I am about to show you, _cannot_ be shared with anybody. _Anybody,_" the elder said, pausing in turn to look at both of us, his eyes remaining on Eona for slightly longer.

"Yes, Father."

"No problemo, Daddy."

He took the padlock into his paws and closed his eyes, deep in concentration. He then began slurring together unrecognizable words and syllables: the padlock began to glow, then dissipate into nothing. This just kept getting more and more interesting, didn't it?

My father was an sleek umbreon with a silvery tint to his fur. He was older- one of the oldest in the village. He wasn't extremely muscular, but he emanated power; he was not somebody you wanted to get into an argument with; this is why he was the head of the council of elders. Everybody would always say I was a spitting image of him: a fact I was immensely proud of.

Not without some effort, he pushed open the great doors, revealing a large underground cavern, dimly lit by evenly placed torches. The three of us slowly entered the cavern. In the center rested a rusty old chest. My father approached it, blew the dust off the top, and gingerly lifted the lid.

He carefully pulled out a scroll, almost as ancient as Arceus himself. My father cleared his throat then read, "'_To bring an end to before the beginning_

_The seven who are of one being_

_Need to spread the knowledge _

_Of good and evil and all that is_

_But of the fabled quest to come_

_Some of the one will remain fallen_

_Everything and nothing is not but black and white_

_The dreary gray will haunt the dreams of the unwary...'"_

After a great pause, my father spoke up again and breathed, "That is the ancient prophecy of legend."

And I thought I had already heard it all...

The umbreon then reached back into the chest and pulled out an was roughly two times the size of my paw, and colored a dark and dreary grayish blue, with maroon stripes vicously zig-zagging around it. My sister and I shared a glance then looked back at the orb. Where was this going?

"This is the Orb of Innocence," the dark type told us, "here, Copernicus, hold it."

I gently took the fragile sphere into my grasp, careful not to damage it. As soon as it was in my paws, it began to glow a piercing bright blue, and the lightning bolt pattern around it began to glow blood red.

My eyes widened in shock. "Is... is this supposed to happen?" I asked, slightly concerned.

My father let out a warm chuckle and replied, "Just as I suspected. The orb only glows when in the hands of one of those foretold in the prophecy... your fate...or fates... have been spun out before you. This has been destined to be your purpose since before you or I had been born. Rumor has it that Celebi blessed the orb himself, in order to give it its abilities."

"Pass it to your sister. Let us see if she is one of the chosen, just as you are."

I carefully placed the orb into her outheld paws. It continued to glow, albeit differently than before. The orb itself flashed to a bright pink, and the blood red pattern changed to a luminescent white.

"Why is it a different color?" I asked, curious.

"It is said that the color is supposed to reflect the holder, and their past, present, and future."

I looked up at my sister, curious to see how she was taking all of this- the espeon had a giddy expression on her face, and was inexplicably excited. The sight brought a smirk upon my face; if only I could have such an ignorant happiness towards life.

"So, um, I hate to break the drama of the moment, but what exactly _is_ our destiny?" The younger pokemon inquired.

Our father thought, then replied, "The great war has been going on for millennia, and it needs to be stopped. Nobody even knows how it began; a clear reason the war needs to end. All that is known is that something had to have happened ages ago to turn the electric types against the fire types, and that alliances were called upon, and armies waged war, creating grand chaos. Some types ran away from the carnage of war, and abandoned cities to hide- thats how our village began. It was formed by a few strong believers in the prophecy and their strong wills- and now here we are looking at the chosen. You have fierce war on your hands that is killing innocent pokemon. It is your destiny to find the five other chosen, then to find the cause of the war, and end the fighting- at least as far as I can assume; but everything is always more than its surface value. Be ready for anything."

I sat there frozen, trying to absorb everything my father had told us.

"You all need to gather your things, and leave as soon as possible. Copernicus, I am entrusting you with the scroll and the orb of innocence. Protect them with your life," my father told me, a grave tone in his voice.

"I will father."

(Unknown POV)

A cloaked figure hidden in the shadows snuck out of the cavern, using the darkness to his advantage. A smirk grew upon its face, having acquired some pivotal information. _This should get interesting fast_.

(Copernicus's POV)

My sister and I gathered our belongings, preparing ourselves for the odyssey to come. Anxious to begin our journey, my sister had packed as rapidly as possible just to harass me to pack quicker.

"C'mon brother! Hurry up, we need to go," she scolded.

I wasn't about to admit it, but I was extremely nervous for this journey. The fate of the world lies in our hands, and I'm barely a teeager! And furthermore, It was my duty to protect Eona. She was young and inexperienced in battle, so she was under my care. I couldn't lose her.

"Just gimme a second," I started, grabbing the Orb of Innocence, "this isn't going to be a short trip, Eona. We need to be prepared."

"Alright, let's go."

Together we exited the den, and approached our awaiting father. _Is this really about to happen?_

He walked up to Eona, then told her, "Be careful out there; you might not realize it, but you're still very young. I am extremely proud of you. Try to keep with your brother- heaven knows he doesn't have nearly as much energy as you."

"I love you daddy," my sister whimpered, on the verge of tears. The enormity of our situation had finally reached her carefree self.

"I Love you too sweetie," he lovingly replied, then turned to me.

"Copernicus," my father began, choking up, "make sure Eona makes it home. It is your duty to protect her. Come back victorious in your quest."

"Goodbye dad. I will miss you," I whispered.

And with that my sister and I left our village, and started walking; where we did not know. Why; for a cause much greater than us.

"Your mother would be so proud of you kids," the elderly umbreon whispered to himself.

"How far do you think we've walked?" my sister asked, for the sake of the conversation.

I knew there were more important things that needed to be done, such as deciphering the prophecy, but I decided to put those thoughts to the side for now. I wanted to make sure my little sister was still calm, and that the weight of our task didn't take too much of a toll on her.

"Several miles at least," I replied in a level tone.

There was a pause.

"So, uh, what exactly is our current plan? I don't mean to pressure you, but I'm not quite the strategic thinker you are," she asked.

I stopped in my tracks. What _was_ our plan? To just wander aimlessly and hand the orb to strangers?

"Copernicus."

No, too time consuming, and not to mention that it could easily get stolen.

"Copernicus!"

We could just wander village to village and try and identify who looks trustworthy, but it is still risky...

"COPERNICUS!"

I looked up, my intense concentration now broken.

"Huh?" I responded lamely.

She rolled her eyes, the stated, "Tell me what's going on in that big brain of yours." 

"Well, to answer your previous question, I don't know. I'm trying to think of an ethical plan that makes sense," I glumly replied, slightly unspirited.

"Well let's look at the prophecy to see if it can provide us any help. Plus my legs are kinda tired from walking anyways."

I couldn't argue with her logic, so I reached into my bag and pulled out the ancient scroll.

I began to read, "_To bring an end to before the beginning_"

We shared a confused look, until she spoke, "Yeah, I don't think we're getting anything from that."

I continued, "_The seven who are of one being_..."

"That sounds promising. It's slightly less confusing than the last line," my sister jested.

I paused to think, then spoke, "Alright let's start with what we know. This line reveals that there are seven chosen, which leaves five others; in a world filled with an unquantifiable amount of pokemon."

Eona stopped for a moment, deep in thought, then replied, "Well if the seven of us are all '_of one_,' we have to have something in common. And since we're the only people who we know are chosen, lets look at what we have in common. Then maybe we will know what to look for in the other chosen."

A great smile crept upon my face; I was very impressed by her deductive skills.

"We're both from the same village, but we can rule that out, because I highly doubt the other five were all in our tiny village," I said.

"Well we have the same father, but I doubt dad was hiding five other siblings from us," she added to the list.

"Maybe it's more physical or mental, rather than having to do with our lives." I thought aloud, "It could be that we're all pure of heart, just as the orb identifies. But that wouldn't help us very much... we can't just tell if someone is pure of heart."

"It could be that we were all created by the same being, whether it be Mew or Arceus, but that doesn't specify at all. And plus that seems to metaphysical to be the reason." I pondered.

"Maybe they are the same size and or shape as us? Or is that too generic?" my sibling wondered.

Her face lit up, and a huge smile as bright as the sun rested upon her face.

"I think I got it."

"Please tell."

"Alright, so what did we both evolve from?" she asked me.

"Eevee," I replied, curious as to where she was going with this.

"Well, how many evolutions can an eevee evolve into?"

"Seven, but I don't see how-" I stopped, the realization of what she was getting at hitting me full speed.

"You are a genius."

"I know."

(Penny's POV)

As we rounded the corner, we were greeted by Elder Cyph speaking in a hushed voice to two pokemon foreign to our village: an umbreon and an espeon.

The umbreon was sitting patiently, intently listening to the elders words. His fur was jet black with a slight tint of silver interspersed throughout, giving his skin a glowing quality. He was quite muscularly defined; he had clearly been thoroughly trained. He meant business.

The espeon was definitely several years younger than her companion. Her fur had a lavender tint to it, and her expression said she was the type without a care in the world. Her eyes flicked from this to that, having lost interest in the in the conversation before her, until her eyes rested upon us. Her eyes widened in surprise, then she turned and muttered something to the Elder.

The lapras then turned around and addressed us, saying, "Seth! Penny! Welcome. Please do come over here!"

I turned to Seth the same time he turned to face me, both of us wondering what in the name of Arceus was going on. We both walked over to the three of them, curiosity piqued.

Seth walked right up to the umbreon and introduced himself.

"Hi. The name's Seth."

"Copernicus," the umbreon responded calmly.

"Nice to meet you. Where are you guys from?" asked Seth sincerely.

And as they continued on with their small talk, I just sat there admiring Seth's ability to make friends with anybody, in a matter of seconds.

That was one of the many reasons I was glad we were friends. He was ever the optimist; nothing could bring him down, and he always put others before himself. He truly cared for every living creature, even if they didn't the same for him. Often times you could find him volunteering at the village medic, trying to cheer all of the patients up, and lifting all of their spirits.

I felt my heart flutter at the thought of him. But how could a guy like him ever fall for a clumsy and awkward girl like me?

I heard a giggle, then turned to the left to see the espeon with a light smile upon her face.

"You really like him that much?" the espeon asked.

I scrambled for an excuse, only to give up, realizing I had been caught staring. "Is it really that obvious?" I pleaded.

"Girl, you are head over heels for him. But it clearly isn't so obvious to him. I'm Eona by the way, and Copernicus over there is my older brother," she said gesturing to the umbreon.

"I'm Penny, it's nice to meet you."

"So, why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Eona stated simply.

"It's one of those complicated 'don't wanna ruin the friendship' things," I replied.

"Oh, I gotcha. But I wanna hear the whole story later on," she requested.

"Why not- I could use some advice," I told her.

The elderly lapras cleared his throat, and called us all over to the water's edge.

"Alright Copernicus," he spoke, "would you like the honors of telling them why you two are here?"

"Of course," he responded, then turned to Seth and I and spoke, "but first..." he paused to reach into his bag. He pulled out an orb, roughly half a foot in diameter, and gingerly placed it into Seth's paws.

As soon as it touched his paw, it began to glow a deep forest green, with baby blue slashes of varying lengths and thicknesses all around the orb. He looked over at me with a curious expression on his face, then back to Copernicus, who was sharing an ecstatic look with his sister. 

He muttered something to her along the lines of "you _were_ right," then turned back to Seth.

"Would you mind passing it to your companion?" Copernicus politely asked.

"No problem," replied Seth, turning to place the orb in my paws. As he handed it over, he gave me a comforting smile.

I looked down at my paws, and what I carefully cradled between them. The orb had begun to change color once again; it was now an elegant sky blue, with dark green polka-dots scattered across. Now I was interested to what these strangers had to say; this just kept getting stranger and stranger.

"So, um, what exactly does this mean?" I asked, gesturing to the sphere in my grasp.

"Have either of you heard of the ancient prophecy?" Eona spoke up.

"I have heard that it exists, but nothing more than that," replied Seth, answering the question for the both of us.

"Well, let us just read it to you then," stated the espeon slightly deviously.

Copernicus then reached back into his bag, and pulled out an ancient scroll.

"Wait, you guys have the prophecy? I thought it was just the stuff of legend!" I asked, awestruck.

"Yes. Our village is made up of mostly psychic and dark types, who devoutly follow the prophecy and believe in it one-hundred percent," Copernicus informed us, "here, let me read it to you:

'_To bring an end to before the beginning_

_The seven who are of one being_

_Need to spread the knowledge _

_Of good and evil and all that is_

_But of the fabled quest to come_

_Some of the one will remain fallen_

_Everything and nothing is not but black and white_

_The dreary gray will haunt the dreams of the unwary..._'"

There was a pause in the conversation.

I shattered the silence and asked, "So, uh, what does that exactly mean?"

Eona's ear twitched. "Well, we kinda don't know all of it yet... all we know as of now is that it is our duty to gather the chosen ones spoken of in the prophecy, to discover the cause of the great war, and to end all of the fighting and prevent any more pointless death."

"Sounds easy," Seth lightly jested, "but what does any of this have to do with us?"

Eona responded, "Do you remember when I said it was our duty? I did not just mean my brother and myself, I meant you two also. You two are both one of the seven chosen."

I froze in my place. Was this some kind of sick joke? No, They were all so serious. Could they be telling the truth?

I had to know. "How do you know for sure?" I prodded.

"Do you remember that orb I had you both hold earlier? Celebi blessed it himself, so that it only lights up in the grasp of one of the chosen. The colors are supposed to portray your past, present, and future," explained Copernicus.

Sensing our doubt, Eona reassured, "Here, let me prove it to you-"

She picked up the orb, and it began to glow a fierce pink. She passed the orb to her brother, at which point it began to illuminate a bright blue, with a blood-red lightning bolt pattern wrapping around it. He then passed it to Elder Cyph, at which point all signs of light left the orb.

"... Alright, you have me convinced. But, do you want us to just drop everything, tell our parents were going on a perilous journey- in which there is a good chance we might die- and run off with some strangers? I don't mean to insult you, but you have to admit; this whole situation is kinda weird," Seth stated bluntly, voicing all of my concerns.

Eona let out a big laugh, then replied, "Yeah, we kinda figured we'd look crazy. But the choice is completely yours to whether or not you wish to accompany us."

Curious on the lapras's take on the sequence of events so far, I asked him, "Elder Cyph, what do you think?"

He let out a great sigh, then recalled, "I remember when our village first began... I was fighting in the war, in the battle of thunder ridge. I was young back then, and ready to show the world what I was made of. After the fierce carnage of battle, a took in my surroundings; bloodshed everywhere, with only a few survivors. Among the thousands that died, there were only four survivors, all of different sides. We all stopped what we were doing, and approached the center of the battlefield, and agreed run from the war. So the four survivors: myself, an arcanine, a zebstrika, and a raichu; we all travelled for months until we found this ground right here, and started a village. All those who wanted to escape the war were welcome. The things I saw... they still haunt me to this day. This war needs to be stopped."

"We will give you two a moment to talk about it together," told Copernicus understandingly. And with that the three of them walked out of earshot, around the bluff, and leaving me with Seth.

He turned to me with an expression that said, _not what I was expecting_, then whispered, "I want to do anything I can to help, but I'm not sure if they are legitimate. What do you think?"

"I think it is our duty, but I'm not sure how my parents would take it..." I uttered, slightly disheartened.

"I... I think we should go. Better than rotting away for the rest of our lives in this village," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Without missing a beat I responded, "I'll go wherever you go; I don't know what I would do without you by my side..." My heart dropped. _Did I just say that out loud?_ Oh no, now he's going to think I'm creepy... He probably hates me now...

On the verge of tears, I couldn't help but think the worst. What If he never talks to me again? Then tells everybody about the creepy girl who used to follow him everywhere... my life would be over...

Deep in my thoughts, I was caught by surprise when he wrapped his paws around me and pulled me into a warm embrace.

"Aww thanks Penny," he whispered into my ear, "that means alot coming from you."

I began to melt inside. Did he just hug me? Like, voluntarily?

I was in shock, not only because he didn't hate me, but because he was happy...

"ALRIGHT GUYS, WE'VE MADE OUR DECISION!" bellowed Seth, signaling for the others to come back from around the corner.

Once they had returned, Eona asked, "... and that decision is?"

Jerked out of my stupor, I responded, "We want to do everything we can to help." I shot a smile at Seth.

The lapras chuckled, "There was never any doubt in my mind. Be careful out there."

_Heaven knows what's going to happen next._

Authors Note: If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read. It means a lot! I greatly appreciate constructive criticism, because I would love to improve. Also, if you have OCs you want me to include just send them in a review or PM me, because I need characters to fill slots I have planned out. Just be sure to include moves, a name, and a weakness in their character. Nobody likes a Mary Sue! Next chapter should be just getting to know the characters a little better: lots of flashbacks. Thanks again!

Also, If you were wondering about the main characters ages, here they are (going by human years):

Copernicus (umbreon) 16

Eona (espeon) 12

Seth (leafeon) 15

Penny (glaceon) 15


	2. When In Need

Authors Notes: Hey guys! This chapter is going to be mostly developing characters. Sorry that this chapter took so long... I had a sudden epiphany, and had to rewrite the whole general plot- and it is so much better than before. If everything goes as planned, you guys are in for a trip :) Unfortunately, school is approaching... hope you enjoy! _Italics_ are generally flashbacks. Also, I just realized that the first chapter just kinda didn't show when I had page breaks -_- I'll fix it when I have the time.

* * *

(Penny's POV)

"Oh god..." I swallowed, desperately attempting to calm my racing heart beat.

I turned to my side, daring to glance at Seth, and the look he gave me screamed both 'just do it already!' and 'take your time, I've got your back.'

It shouldn't be this hard– all I need to say is 'hey, uh, mom? Can I maybe go on a perilous journey with some strangers to save the world?'

Alright, I am just making this harder for myself now...

My mom sat there waiting for me to say something, her patience quickly fading. I closed my eyes and prepared myself to ask her. Why was this so hard? What's the worst she could do, say no?

I felt something touch me, and I turned around to see Seth had intertwined his tail with mine in an attempt to calm me down.

My face flushed. Definitely not helping.

Better get out with it before things get worse. "Ma? Um, so, you know the prophecy?"

"I have heard of it, Yes," The Ninetales replied.

"Well, apparently we are some of the chosen spoken of in the prophecy, and um, can I go and help save the world?" I mentally slapped myself. Could that have been more awkward?

My mother paused, ever the unreadable Pokemon she is, and thought. After a moment, she asked, "And Seth, your mother is okay with this?"

"Yes Ma'am," he happily replied, "the Elder explained everything to her and she was all for it. I'm sure he would be willing to do the same for you."

"That would actually make me feel much better. Seth, may I ask something of you?" My mother asked.

Oh no. Where was she taking this?

"Anything," he stated, a golden smile plastered upon his face.

"Promise me you'll watch after my little girl?" she asked pleadingly.

Somewhat more serious, he responded, " Cross my heart that I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safe."

Happy with his reply, my mother complimented, "You're a good kid, Seth. Penny can go."

Ecstatic that Seth's had convinced my mother to let me come, I threw my forelegs around him— only to quickly withdraw them once I remembered my mother was still present.

I sighed. I should really just accept the fact that I'm never not going to be awkward...

"Could I have a word alone with her please?" My mother asked Seth.

"Of course."

_Oh no._

* * *

(Seth's POV)

After several minutes of waiting, Penny finally came out from her den, avoiding eye contact, the ground suddenly extremely interesting.

Concerned at her sudden strange behavior, I asked her, "You okay? What did your mom tell you?"

She looked up at me, then after a moment nervously told, "Uhh, she just wanted to tell me goodbye, but she didn't want to embarass me in front of you."

I smiled, then laughed. "Penny, you really need to work on your lying skills." Her eyes widened. "I'll get the truth out of you later. Right now we should go see if Copernicus and Eona are done gathering supplies."

After not much searching, we found them leaving the medic, carrying assorted berries in their pouches.

"Are you guys ready?" asked the psychic-type.

"As we'll ever be..." uttered the small voice beside me.

"So, what exactly is the plan? Do we know where we're headed?" I inquired.

There was a pause, then Copernicus said, "Well... we wander until we hit another village."

"Good enough for me. We might as as well get going to wherever our destination may be," I answered affirmatively.

* * *

"You know what, Copernicus? We need to give you a nickname: Copernicus is too long," I stated.

We had been traveling for an hour or two, talking about this and that. The scenery was ever constant: countless trees and endless brush along the forest floor.

"Alright, but what would it be?" he responded in a conversational tone.

There was a moment of silence between us, then Penny spoke up, "How about Copper? It has a nice ring to it."

He thought for a moment then smiled. "Copper... I could get used to that."

The espeon chipped in, "Well it's settled then. Copper it is."

"You know, we're probably going to be traveling together for a while; we should get to know each other better," I spoke, trying to be as friendly as possible.

After a moment, I asked, "What was life like in your village?"

The pink pokemon rolled her eyes. "Boooooring."

Her brother sighed at his sister's antics, then recalled, "Things were pretty slow, but I suppose I can't say that for sure considering I haven't really lived anywhere else. Our village was very strongly based on superstition; all of the commoners were very whimsical. Our father is the head of the council of elders, and he enforces belief in the prophecy; after all it is what our village is founded upon."

"That seems pretty cool. How long has your village been around?" the glaceon spoke up.

"About 100 years or so," Eona recollected, "I can't tell you how many times Daddy told us the history of it."

I was glad that we were all talking; the quicker we all warmed up to each other, the easier it would be to trust each other- and trust would be very important.

Deciding to contribute, I started, "Our village was pretty much the same: nothing ever happened. You know just about as much history about is as we do; after a great battle, several survivors ran away from the savages of war, and made a sanctuary for all pokemon wanting to escape it all."

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Copper asked out of the blue, "What about you two? How did you meet?"

I grinned: this was one of my favorite stories. I turned to Penny, then asked her, "You wanna tell the story? You're a much better storyteller than I am."

She nodded, then began recalling the events so many years ago. I was curious to see her perspective on how the story happened.

"Well we couldn't have been more than five years old; I was new to town, and what's more is I was adopted. My parents had died protecting me from the invasion of the electric-types- I managed to escape, and was graciously taken in by an Arcanine and Ninetales..."

(Penny's POV)

_All I wanted was to fit in._

_My foster mother had told me to go play with the other kids of the village, out in the field across from our den. I carefully approached, extremely timid. I made my way to the group and examined them; the oldest seemed to be a houndoom and a luxio, with two stunky and an eevee standing behind them. The luxio had a distinctive scar across his cheek._

_The luxio accosted me. "Who do you think you are, Runt."_

_"I... I'm Penelope, b-b-but I-I like to be called Penny..." I stuttered, afraid of the electric-type, remembering what had happened to my parents._

_"And what the hell do you think you're doing here?" He snarled fiercely._

_"And where are you mommy and daddy?" He laughed._

_I choked up. "They- They are up in the sky..." I was on the verge of tears._

_The houndoom approached me menacingly. Sensing my weakened state, he took the new ammunition for insults I had given him, and fired straight at my heart. "Hah," he laughed, "they probably never loved you. That's why they named you Penny; because you were worthless to them. Get it? They. Never. Loved. You."_

_I broke down, and began sobbing, a river of tears flowing down my cheeks. Could... could it be true? Did they not love me? Why were they being so mean to me?_

_The blue-furred pokemon spoke up once again, "Yeah, they probably killed themselves 'cause they didn't want you anymore."_

_Any emotional dignity I still had just shattered. My legs buckled, and I looked at the ground, my eyes closed tightly, trying to push away their words._

_The Luxio approached me and swatted me on to the ground, then stood over me and spat, "Now go home crying to your mommy- oh wait, you can't." He broke out into laughter._

_"Stop. Don't you guys know your limits? Talk about hitting her when she's already down... you people should be ashamed," a foreign voice scolded._

_I looked up; it was the eevee._

_"Do you want a beating too, twerp?!" the houndoom threatened._

_The eevee paused, and then with a slight smirk replied, "not unless you want the Elder to find out about this whole thing. I'm sure it would be all the more convincing with both of us all bruised and beaten."_

_The luxio snarled, then turned off in the opposite direction, his posse following wordlessly._

_The eevee turned to face me, only after spitting on the ground where the luxio was standing. "Sorry about that... they are all selfish headstrong brutes, and I can't stand 'em. I'm glad that there's someone else now I can be friends with besides them," he said with a huge, childish smile, "but I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Seth."_

_The steady flow of tears coming from my eyes began to stop. "I'm Penny." I paused for a moment then asked, "I-Is that a stupid name?"_

_Sensing my sadness and insecurity, he replied, "Actually, I think it's a really pretty name. Way cooler than Seth." He smiled at me with another one of his foolish grins._

_I threw my forelegs around him, and breathed, "Thank you."_

After recalling my story, I looked up at the three of them. Copper and Eona both seemed appalled that anyone could possibly so viciously mean, while Seth was standing beside them, the same foolish grin plastered upon his face, bringing a smile to mine.

"The next day we both told our parents, and the news traveled up the grapevine; next thing you know their gang was exiled from our village," added Seth, relieved.

"Well at least they got what was coming to them..." uttered Copper monotonously, at a loss for words.

"That... that is so... so... sad," stated Eona lamely.

I turned to look at seth, and we both wordlessly agreed.

I spoke up, "... Actually, I think is was probably one of the best days of my life."

Eona raised her eyebrow at me questioningly.

"Same here," Seth continued, "I mean we've been best friends ever since."

I smiled at his statement. "I don't know what I would do if I hadn't met you, and we hadn't become friends..."

"Same... come to think of it, we probably wouldn't be here with you guys today," pondered Seth.

I stopped. It's funny how one little thing could have cause all this; fast forward ten years from that day, and now here I am 'saving the world' with a guy I'm head over heels for. It's funny how things work out like that.

"Well how about you guys," I asked, "I mean, obviously you guys met when Eona was born, but what was that like for you Coperni... er, Copper?"

The espeon looked over at him. "I kinda wanna hear this story, too."

The umbreon's ear twitched, then he began, "Well..."

(Copper's POV)

_"In a couple of hours, you're going to have a sibling!" my father informed my ever excitable young self._

_A great grin crept upon my face. Finally, a younger brother I could train with, or talk about battle strategies with! I was growing more excited by the minute._

_Just then my mother entered, carrying a small bundle of blankets in her mouth._

… And it was a girl, and I was disappointed: the end.

"HEY!" Eona stammered, slightly offended, "That is so NOT funny."

"Actually, it kinda is," I corrected.

She swatted me across the face with her paw playfully, and I laughed.

"But in all honesty, it was nice to have a sibling; it was hard having all of mom and dad's undivided attention. And you sure were a handful..." I replied somewhat more seriously.

The conversation paused, all of us in our own thoughts. I looked around; still the same old view; endless tree's and brush along the forest floor. It was almost as if time had stopped here.

After a few minutes of silence, Seth asked in a conversational tone, "What was it like when you guys evolved?"

A big smile immediately erupted on the espeon's face. "Oh, I only beat Copper in a fight."

Seth looked over at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly. I sighed. "I was tired and distracted-"

"But I still beat you!" Eona interrupted me, pride eminent in her voice.

After accidentally letting out a giggle, Penny asked me, "What about you?"

"Well," I recollected, "my father was training me, and I finally nailed a special move he taught me..."

_"Okay now try it one more time."_

_It was just past dusk, and the stars were beginning to glow in the sky. My concentration was beginning to dwindle from a days hard work, but I would not quit until my father told me I could. Quitters were weak._

_My father stood opposite me, standing as still as possible. We were in a large open field just outside the village._

_"Okay," I answered, afraid to disappoint him once again._

_The moonlight glistened on the grass, and I closed my eyes tightly, attempting to regain my lost concentration. I took a deep breath, then exhaled. I reached deep within the recesses of my mind, then tensed my body. A large pulse of dark energy flew outward in every direction from my body. I smiled: so far, so good._

_I opened my eyes, then narrowed them again and dashed towards my father. Praying that it would work, I relaxed my body and let the dark energy surround me. My body molding to the shadows, I leaped at my father, catching him by surprise and knocking him over. He slowly stood up, an enormous smile resting upon his face._

_Emanating with pride, he told me, "Great job, son. For your age, that was very impressive."_

"And that's pretty much it; I was so happy my father was proud of me that I evolved. How about you two?"

They made eye contact, almost seeming to have a silent conversation; they seemed to do that a lot... it was somewhat strange.

Seth finally spoke, "In our village, it is custom that on your 10th birthday, every eevee had to set out by on their own, to 'discover themselves' and to not come back until they evolved."

"Being a few months older than me, Seth left before I did, and by the time he returned I had just left for my own 'discovery,'" explained the glaceon.

"And it is also custom to keep you journey a secret between you and yourself," continued Seth, sharing a nervous glance with Penny.

What was that about? I decided I would ask him later; it was unimportant now.

* * *

(Eona's POV)

"Alright, so you promised me you'd tell me all about Seth and you. Start talking," I stated slightly impatient- I had been waiting to hear about this all day.

She looked at me, then whispered, "Shhh! They might hear you."

We had been traveling for the whole day non-stop, and it was nearing sunset; my energy was slowly being depleted.

"Oh please. They're probably rambling on about battle strategies or something lame like that, they won't hear," I stated nonchalantly.

She shrugged, then asked, "Alright. What do you want to know?"

Hmmm... obviously she isn't going to voluntarily tell me anything; I had to ask in order to get answers.

"Well first off, what was up with that weird look you guys shared earlier?"

Trying to play stupid, she inquired, "When do you mean?"

I laughed, "You know when. Just after your story about evolving; he was all like, 'your journey thingy is supposed to be a secret,' and then you guys acted super nervous."

What _could_ it be? Apparently there was a period of time when they both weren't at their village; he was returning and she was leaving... could something have happened then?

Unsure how to phrase my question, I stammered, "So, uh, did you guys like secretly start dating when you were both gone or something? But like you had to keep it a secret all those years for some reason?"

She laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of my statement, then let out a sigh, "I wish it was that easy. The story behind that doesn't have anything to do with me liking him; and what it _is_ about is going to remain a secret."

How weird... I'm going to make a promise to myself now that I WILL find out that story...

"Alright, I guess I should start with the basics. How long have you, um, liked him?"

Without missing a beat she responded, "You know the saying you don't know what you have 'till it's gone? Well, it was over that period of time when he was away on his journey."

I stopped. "FIVE YEARS? Geez, c'mon, you've gone 5 WHOLE YEARS without telling him!" I asked, astonished.

She sighed once again, then replied, "believe me, I wish I had told him too, but think about it; we're the only ones our age in our tiny village; if he rejected me, we wouldn't have been able to avoid each other. It would be extremely awkward, and not to mention it would completely ruin the friendship. And then if that all did happen, we would have both ended up here with you two on this trip... even more awkward." She shuddered.

"Okay, I see your point. But seriously, you really think he would just stop talking to you? I've only known him for a day, and he's already probably the nicest pokemon I've ever met; you should know that even better than me," I scolded.

She looked down at her feet, her cheeks slightly red. "You're right... it's just, I can't help but assume the worst is going to happen."

I looked her up and down; it was clear this whole issue was causing her a lot of stress; five years of it. She had definitely thought this over many times already.

Feeling bad for her, I calmed down a bit. I needed to be more sincere. "So how much do you like him?"

"Hmmm... that's a tough question to answer. I mean up until a few months ago it was manageable. But recently it's been a lot worse, because he has been with me a lot more, and he has been more... touchy? I'm not sure how to phrase it."

"As in you've been a lot closer recently? Like physically and mentally?"

"Exactly," the ice-type smiled, "having him so close to me just makes me nervous, and I lose my cool. No pun intended."

I snorted, "Kinda like when you two were discussing whether or not to trust us earlier today? When you accidentally told him how much he meant to you?"

Her eyes grew wide, and her face turned bright red. "H-How do you know about that? Can you, like, read minds or something?"

I laughed, then informed her, "No, that is a common misconception about about psychics. What I can do is sense emotions; a little trick my mother taught me before she passed. And the sheer amount of fear, then joy, coming off of you made it pretty easy to assume."

She frowned at me, slightly agitated. "Yes, kinda exactly like then." Her facial expression lightened, then she murmured, "But thank you for listening. It makes is a lot easier having told somebody. But what I don't get is how you found out after just meeting me, but after 5 years, he still doesn't know."

I shrugged, and was about to respond, when we heard someone yelling, "HEY SLOWPOKES!"

Speak of the devil- the leafeon came trotting up to us. "We are going to set up camp just ahead. Copper is there waiting for us. Penny and I shared a look; we were going to continue this conversation later.

Just as we were about to go catch up to Copper, Penny stopped us. "Hold up guys. Do you hear something?"

We all stopped in our tracks, and she was right; you could hear soft crying from the bush adjacent to us. Penny gingerly approached it, not wanting to startle whatever may be in it. She spread the branches to reveal a helpless vaporeon, several years younger than myself. She was sobbing to herself, and she definitely hadn't eaten in days. Her ribs were clearly visible._ What on earth..._

Authors Notes: Hope you enjoyed it! From here on out things should get interesting; this is where the plot begins to develop. Sorry again that this chapter took so long! I was away, then I had to rewrite the whole general plot... ugh. Hopefully I will be able to get in another chapter or two before school starts. All credit for the vaporeon, along with another character to be revealed soon, goes to roadie0787. Any type of review, be it a flame or constructive criticism, would be great! I love to see everybody's opinions on my work. Until next time... adios!


	3. Stand

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

Authors Note: This chapter was fun to write, but unfortunately, my writing will slow down soon; school is approaching. Today we got our schedules in the mail :(

I should be able to get in another chapter or two by then though!

* * *

(Penny's POV)

She looked so... so _helpless_. My heart went out to her- I don't know what happened to her, just that it had to have been traumatizing in order to have such an innocent little girl down on her knees, sobbing her eyes out.

I looked at my two companions, and we all silently agreed; we couldn't just leave her here.

Without a second thought, I approached her. I used my paw to gently lift her head up, so I could see her eyes. "What's wrong?"

She opened her mouth, as if she were to speak, but was unable to formulate words through her sobbing. My facial expression hardened; who would dare do this to such an adorable little vaporeon? I tightly wrapped my paws around her, and whispered, "Shhh, It'll be okay. We'll keep you safe."

Her sobbing began to slow. Taking attention to her clearly visible ribs, I inquired, "You must be hungry. Would you like some food?"

She nodded.

We began to walk forward towards where Copper was waiting, every few seconds turning to my side to make sure she was still there.

"So what might your name be?" I asked the water-type.

After a moment, she responded, "L-L-Levi"

I beamed at her. "That's a very beautiful name."

A faint smile appeared on her tortured face.

The whole walk back, she remained right by my side: keeping a watchful eye on both Eona and Seth, as if she were afraid of them. They both persistently tried to make conversation with her by asking harmless questions, but she never gave more than a one-word answer. What in the name of Arceus could have happened to her?

After the short trek, we arrived at the place Copper had picked for us to camp.

With slight urgency in her voice, Eona asked, "Seth, you said Copper would be waiting for us, right? Where was he going to wait?"

After a moments tribulation, he responded, "Last time I saw him, he was right here. He likely went off to scavenge for supplies."

Seemingly feeling less worried, she settled down.

Seth whispered something to Eona, to which she nodded. He then turned to me and whispered into my ear, "You should try and find out more about her; we can't help her if we don't know what she needs help with, and she's definitely taken to you. Eona and I will go gather berries, so she may be more inclined to talk."

I nodded- as much as I didn't like that fact that Eona would be alone with Seth, I couldn't argue. It was a good plan.

Once I saw they had left, I turned to Levi, who was staring at the ground.

I took some of our berries, and nudged them toward her. She began to eat slowly, even though I could tell she wanted to devour them all.

With as much care in my voice as possible, I asked her, "So why were you crying earlier? Is everything okay?"

She looked up at me, sadness emanating from her eyes. After some time, she innocently asked, "Promise you won't be angry?"

I smiled. "I promise."

"I... I ran away from home," she stated, tears reforming in her eyes.

I could've sworn I was ready for anything, yet I was still surprised.

"Why did you run away?" I asked her.

She began to stare at the ground. I resolved to not press it any further; she was going to tell me what she was going to tell me. "Don't feel like you have to tell me, it's okay if you don't."

Trying to change the topic, I asked her, "Would you like to come collect berries with me?"

Nothing. She was still just staring at the ground, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

I let out a fake sigh, attempting to get a reaction out of her. "Alright, you can just wait here while I go collect some. Be careful here, all by yourself"

I began to slowly walk away. Before I managed to take 5 paces, I heard a fearful voice behind me yell, "WAIT! Please don't go..."

I never had any intention of actually leaving, so I was glad she spoke up. I really wanted to help her, but I couldn't if I didn't know how.

"I... I ran away be- because..." she stammered.

The poor little thing... I pulled her into another tight embrace.

"I ran away because... my Daddy... he- he... he killed Mommy. My Daddy's not like he used to be. He's different... A-a and h-h-he... Mommy isn't... Daddy didn't..." She uttered, stopping every few seconds to let out a shuddering sob.

I hugged her tighter. What could have been going on inside her father's head? Just look what he had done to his own daughter. It made me sick.

I released her from the embrace, and she looked directly into my eyes and said with great concern, "Daddy... he is looking for me. He's coming for me next... I don't want you guys to get hurt too..."

My heart shattered. Even after everything she's gone through, she's still more concerned about us than herself. "And what type of pokemon is your Daddy? So we can look out for him."

"Daddy- Daddy is an umbreon."

* * *

(Eona's POV)

The sun had just dipped under the mountains, and the beautiful orange horizon began to fade to darkness, just like the rest of the sky. Penny had better be fast, lest we wouldn't be able to find our way back.

I looked over at my companion- Seth had a ridiculous smile clad upon his face, and a joyful spring in his step: as per usual. I have no idea how he stays so dang happy all the time. You figure there'd be a limit somewhere...

"Why are you so happy?" I asked, the question unintentionally coming off slightly sarcastic.

He looked over at me questioningly, then responded, "What just happened back there. That's why I am so happy."

"What do you mean? You mean the vaporeon?"

We continued mindlessly walking, until we were far enough away not to interfere with Penny and Levi. We stopped walking and sat down, waiting.

"Not just Levi, Levi and Penny," he corrected.

Still confused, I asked him, "What about them?"

He looked at me, then explained, "You remember the story about how Penny and I met? How she was left all on her own?"

I nodded.

"Well, you know how she went right up to Levi, and made her best attempt to cheer her up? And how Levi really took to her?"

I nodded again. Where was he taking this?

"She sees herself in Levi."

Alright I guess that makes sense... but that doesn't explain why Seth would be happy.

"And in being the maternal figure she is to Levi, she is being the same she would have wanted for herself. So, she'll get some closure, and be happier," he said, beaming at me.

I paused to think, then asked him, "Hold up. So you're happy, because she's going to be happy?"

"Of course," he told me, beaming.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile too... That was actually really cute, whether he knew it or not. I can see why Penny likes him so much.

"That's adora-"

A piercing screech shattered the silence of the forest, interrupting me in the process.

We both looked at each other, the same thought prominent in both of our minds.

* * *

(Penny's POV)

"Shhh, it's going to be okay. It's just our friend Copper, he won't hurt you," I consoled the terrified vaporeon.

She looked as if she were about to say something, but before she got the chance, Seth and Eona stormed back into our little clearing.

Seth exclaimed, "We heard yelling. Is everybody okay?"

I looked at him, and told him, "Everybody is perfectly fine, Copper just startled Levi."

The espeon then answered, relieved, "Oh, good. Speaking of which, where is she?"

Rather than explaining, I just turned slightly to the side, revealing the cowering pokemon hiding behind me.

Momentarily forgotten, Copper spoke up, "Alright, so does somebody want to explain to me what just happened?"

Ready to defend Levi, I told him, "We found Levi here all alone crying. So, we are going to help her."

He looked at her, and then back to me, contemplating. "Alright, but how exactly do we help her?"

I paused, unready for the question. "Well... we're not sure yet... I'll fill you guys in what I know. She ran away 'cause her father, uh, killed her mother, and is after her next. Her father is an umbreon, which explains why she was, er, is so afraid of you, Copper."

We all stopped for a minute to think. How _could_ we help her? It's not like she could come with us...

My eyes widened in realization, then I plainly stated, "Also, you should let her hold the orb, just in case... in case she's one of the chosen."

Sudden realization dawned in his eyes, then he proceeded to carefully roll the orb over to us, not wanting to scare Levi. She picked up the spherical object, and then looked up at me expectantly. The orb remained stagnant.

I was slightly disappointed; I was hoping she would be able to accompany us. It was probably for the best though- someone so young would probably hinder our progress.

Before I could get hung up on my own disappointment, Seth unexpectedly asked, "Levi, do you have any relatives?"

She paused to think, then replied, "I think I have an Auntie in Castelia City."

We all looked at Copper, and a solemnly nodded. It was going to be a rough trip; finding her 'Auntie' should be extremely difficult, let alone getting in to the city. It was run by vicious water-types who were very territorial: the city was known for being dangerous.

Making an executive decision, Copper told us, "Alright, if we're going to do this, we might as well get a good nights sleep beforehand."

We all lied down, and Levi curled up right next to me, and began to lightly snore.

_I sure hope everything goes well tomorrow..._

* * *

(Copper's POV)

First to awake, I walked a little ways away from our temporary camp. I simply continued mindlessly walking, not knowing where I was going. I chuckled; it was kind of like this journey._ Nowhere to go, yet we just keep going._ I stopped and looked up at the sky. Ominous storm clouds were beginning to form over the forest, threatening to release the torrent of rain they undoubtedly stored.

This whole thing was ridiculous: we had no plan, and no help. They were all starting to look up to me as their leader- but how am I to lead them, when there is nothing to lead them to? I sighed. If this is a test, please let the answer to our problems be simple.

I looked around me: the trees were beginning to change color, and before long the leaves will all have fallen to the ground. It was getting colder and colder every day; winter was approaching fast._ Perfect. Something to make things more difficult._

Deciding enough time had passed, I began the trek back to camp. We needed to get going before the rain started.

Once arrive, I was greeted by a peculiar sight; my sister was _awake_. I laughed, then teased her, "G'morning sunshine. Why are you up so early?"

She scowled at me, then sneered, "Not in the mood, Copper. It's way too early, and I had the strangest dream last night. I just can't piece it together though... something about another war? I can't remember..."

Sensing her agitation, I reassured her, "I'm sure it'll come back to you, but right now we need to wake the others. A storm is coming, and we need to make a lot of progress in order to get to Castelia by sundown."

Together we woke up the others, with the exception of Levi; I didn't want to startle her, so I let Eona have that job.

Once we were all awake, I told everybody the plan. "Alright guys, the plan is to travel west to Castelia City, and then locate Levi's Aunt by the end of the day. Once there, we will do our best to search the city for possible chosen. Sound good?"

In silent agreement agreement, we headed out on our way.

* * *

(Penny's POV)

It had been a long day, at least so far. I rolled my eyes at the thought that there would be more...

The whole day thus far had consisted of Levi hiding from Copper. I give him credit; he tried several times to make a good impression on her, but to no avail.

Praying for something to break the silence, I asked, "How close do you figure we are to Castelia City?"

Copper answered, "Not far. Maybe a mile or two; it shouldn't be much more than an hour, give or take."

I turned to younger pokemon, always by my side, and asked her, "What does your Aunt look like?"

"She's an old Vaporeon... I think she has a daughter also. I... I can't remember."

Alright... that doesn't help much... we have to look for two vaporeon in a city full of viscous water-types. Searching the city should be interesting...

It was getting later in the day, and the temperature was dropping. We would all likely feel much better if the sun were out, but we had yet to see it all day. The menacing storm clouds had been looming over us all day, threatening to explode.

An enormous, throaty, growl rumbled behind us.

Confused, I turned around- and what I saw was _not_ normal. An umbreon stood before me, if he could even still be referred to as one. He was jet black, and his fur was unkempt: clearly not his first concern. His claws were razor sharp, and he had a muscular physique, and it was _creepy_.

But that wasn't the weirdest part. No, the thing that was the most concerning was his eyes. They were lifeless and empty, void of all emotion. They were blood red, and they were extremely intimidating.

The skies finally released. A torrential rain began pouring down, hindering vision and hearing.

"D-daddy..." the voice beside me stuttered.

Oh no.

He exhaled loudly through his nose, seemingly taunting us. Now I can see why Levi ran away from home...

The fight was inevitable, but it was worth a shot to try and get him to back off. Seth was the first to speak up, "Alright, we don't wanna fight you. We just want to continue on our trip in peace. Okay?"

The sopping wet, hellish, umbreon lunged at Seth, claws outstretched. Seth dove out of the way, barely managing to escape the menacing blow. The dark creature continued to launch a barrage of swipes and slashes at Seth, but all he did was continue to barely evade him.

Eona turned to me. "Why isn't he fighting back?!"

I sighed, and told her, "That's a story for another time. Seth, you need to fight back!"

The soaked creature turned to me, suddenly aware that there were other enemies. It began to slowly stride toward me with malicious intent. I froze.

Now, I'm not a bad fighter. I'm not good, but I'm not bad either. But seeing his shallow eyes locked on me, his next target, was _terrifying_. He was face to face with me, and he began to charge a shadow ball, aimed directly at my face. Then I realized; Levi was still directly by my side. Shocked out of my stupor, I barely had time to push Levi out of the way before he launched his shadow ball at me, sending me flying ten yards backwards, unconscious.

* * *

(Copper's POV)

This couldn't be happening. Penny was unconscious, and Levi was vulnerable, with the menace quickly approaching her. He was several yards away from her now, and was about to do the same to her that she had to Penny. I couldn't let him hurt anybody else. I have to do something.

Time seemed to stop. The shadow ball was released, and it was rapidly approaching Levi. I was out of options... I tackled her out of the way, putting myself in the line of fire. The juggernaut slammed into my side, knocking the wind out of me, and sending me sprawling.

Due to the immense gash in my side, I was quickly loosing blood. I was doomed to be a spectator for the rest of the fight. My vision quickly fading, I watched the rest of the battle unfold:

Levi would be no help in the fight: too young and inexperienced. Same for my sister; she had a type disadvantage, and was off hiding. Penny was unconscious, and here I am slowly bleeding out. It was all up to Seth.

Realizing the severity of the situation, he launched into action. The pokemon was headed towards Levi once again. Without thinking, Seth tackled the creature to the ground, and pinned him there. Levi's father bared his fangs, showing his malice towards Seth. While still incapacitated, Seth fired an energy ball at the pokemon underneath him- this only seemed to agitate the creature more.

The umbreon shoved the smaller pokemon off of him, and charged. Seth merely sidestepped, adrenaline coursing through him. The grass-type fired a razor leaf at him, and the umbreon launched a shadow ball at them, dissipating them.

Both of them out of breath, with their fur plastered to their bodies, Seth sneered, "Enough is enough. Why? Why are you doing all of this?"

The creature merely snarled in response.

"You make me sick," Seth spat back.

The dark-type lunged at Seth once again; expecting the attack, he sidestepped, then dove at the umbreon's flank mid attack, knocking him to the ground. Without a second thought, the leafeon brought his paw down upon his opponent, slashing him, and left a gash.

Seth hovered over the defeated pokemon, ready to finish what he started. He charged up another energy ball, but then let it dissipate... he couldn't do it. He climbed off the umbreon, and he snarled, then walked away.

Seth sighed, and stood there in the pouring rain, with a look of shame and fear upon his face.

Then everything began to fade to darkness.

* * *

Authors Notes: Hey again guys! I enjoyed this chapter a lot, because I got to write my first battle scene. That being said, please let me know how I did in a review! It would mean a lot. Until next time :)


	4. New Places and New Pokemon

Authors Note: Hey guys! Glad I'm finally done reading Digital Skitty's _Pedestal_, so I can update. It was so good I literally had no time to write, 'cause I spent all of my time reading it. Onward with the story!

* * *

(Penny's POV)

I groaned, and slowly opened my eyes. Everything seemed extremely hazy, but my vision quickly began to clear up, only to reveal a pair of crystal blue eyes staring directly into mine. I jumped back, startled, and let out a slight yelp.

"Levi, you scared me! I didn't notice you there." My heart beat slowly began returning to normal, and then I paused to think. Where was I? What happened? My eyes jolted open in realization, and I sharply in took a breath.

"LEVI, YOUR FATHER! WHAT HAPPENED?"

She looked up at me, surprised at my sudden yelling. Alright, lets see what I remember; we were walking to the city, when I turned around and saw _him_. And then he went after me…

Levi the mumbled in response to my question, but went unheard.

"What was that?"

She nervously answered, "I said that, um, your friend fought him, and sent him away…"

I jumped up to my feet in shock. Where were the others? As if they had heard my mental question, Eona and Seth strode back into the small little clearing where I was lying. Exasperated, I inquired, "What happened the other day?" How long ago was it? It was all so fuzzy…

Seth ran over to me, and before I knew what was happening, he was poking and prodding me, talking a million miles an hour. "Oh my gosh, you're awake! Are you alright? Does your head hurt? Are you sleepy at all? How much do you remember?"

Still trying to process everything that he had just said, Eona approached then reprimanded, "Seth, she probably just woke up, try not to confuse her _too_ much. How much do you remember?"

"Well, um, I remember the umbreon finding us, then going after Seth, then it came after me… and everything after that is kinda fuzzy… sorry," I replied apologetically.

They looked at each other, then back to me, and Eona explained, "Well… he was aiming a shadow ball at you and Levi, and at the last second you shoved Levi out of the way. But you took a nasty hit, and got knocked unconscious."

I blinked. Wait, so I was unconscious? That explains the haziness and the slight headache. "What happened after that?"

"Well… he went for Levi again, but Copper jumped in front of the shadow ball… and he took an even nastier hit," she explained, slight sadness in her voice.

My eyes widened in horror. "Where is he? Is he okay?!"

Instead of responding, she wordlessly gestured behind me. I turned, only to reveal a soaking wet umbreon sprawled out adjacent to where I was lying. He had a great gash on his side, which only increased my worry. "Is he alright? He had to have suffered a lot of blood loss…"

"Thanks to Seth's medical expertise, we were able to clot it using old spinarak webs, and prevent much more blood loss than he already had. He hasn't even stirred yet," she explained, her slight sadness now growing.

My expression hardened. How dare he do this to his innocent daughter? Forever tormenting her, not to mention taking her mother's life… "Wait, what happened after that?"

Eona looked up at me and responded, "Seth here came to your rescue again. He managed to chase Levi's father off, but I'm sure he'll be back…"

I looked over at Seth. During her whole recollection of the story, he had been staring at his paws intently. I sighed; I knew this must be eating him up inside, but I resolved to question him more about it later, when the others weren't there. Right now we have bigger problems…

As if on cue, Copper began to stir from his restless sleep. Eerily similar to how I had, he awoke confused and forgetful to the events leading up to this moment.

"Huh? W-What happened?"

Eona told her tale once again, explaining slowly for Copper to take it all in.

"Well at least we're all okay," he consoled, trying to clamber up to his feet, only to be pushed back down by his sister.

"You've got a big gash on your side!" she explained, "you're not going anywhere yet. Plus, we still have to update our plan."

He sighed, and resigned back into his sitting position- he was in no place to argue with her.

Wanting to change the topic from him in his weakened state, he uncharacteristically asked, "Levi, what is your father's name?"

Suddenly aware of everybody's attention on her, she clammed up. "Uh… um… his name is... Taint."

I exhaled loudly through my nose. That was fitting…

Sensing the opportunity, I took it- we would be here for awhile still, waiting for Copper to get his strength back. "Seth, you wanna help me go collect berries? I'm sure our supplies are dwindling from having to treat all of our injuries." We both knew all too well that this was _not_ going to be about berries.

Resigning to the fact that he couldn't weasel out of this, he solemnly agreed to accompany me. We began walking away from our clearing, and out back into the woods; we would have to gather berries, in order to not raise suspicions from the others, but I was going to get answers from him, whether he liked it or not.

Eventually, we came across a rather small oran berry bush, and he began carefully picking them off, blatantly avoiding eye contact.

"... Seth, tell me what happened." It wasn't a question.

"When do you mean?" he asked, feigning confusion.

I sighed. This would be a struggle. "With Taint, Levi's father."

He looked up at me, his facial expression a mess. I couldn't quite tell what he was feeling; it looked like some kind of combination of anger and sorrow, and it was definitely eating him up inside. Then it hit me- it was regret. He was feeling regret.

"Seth, you just saved our lives! Why are you so upset?" I pleaded, giving him a kicked-growlithe look.

He sighed, then told me, "I… I could have saved you, Copper, and Levi had I acted sooner…"

"But you still saved us!" I looked at him, scowling. I knew there was more that he wasn't telling me.

"But I could have-"

"Cut the crap. We both know there is something you're not telling me." Where did _that_ come from?

He responded, defeated, "You remember the story about my father, right?"

I nodded, not wanting to interrupt, now that I had him talking. His father had left his mother and him to fight in the war: to fight for peace. He nobly died in battle, leaving him and his mother alone. He would ever admit it, but the simple fact tore him up inside.

"I was four years old when he left, just a tiny eevee. And you know what he told me?" he asked, sadness evident in his voice, "he told me, 'Son, if I don't come back, you're the man of this family. It is your job to protect your mother, and anybody else in need. You're going to be a hero, son.'"

He paused, unable to speak for a moment. "And you know what? I made a promise to myself that day. I promised myself I would help all those in need, just like my father said I would. So I trained. I trained myself whenever I got the chance, until I deemed myself worthy of protecting those that needed it. If only I had known how hard that promise would be to keep..."

There was a minute of silence.

"I couldn't do it, Penny."

I uttered, "D-Do what?"

"I couldn't kill him. I-I had him pinned. I could have easily ended it all."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I had never seen him like this before...

"But because of my own insecurities, he's still running around, possibly killing others, and more than likely will come after us again. I-I can't even protect my best friends, let alone all of those in need."

So, this was bigger of a problem than I had thought. But how would I be able to cheer him up? I still don't even know how I feel about all of this...

"I- I just couldn't help but think that he was part of a family once. Levi's father would have been taken from her, just like mine had been from me, even if he was a psychopath. I kept thinking that maybe we could save him, and Levi could have a father again…"

He stared into my eyes, and continued pouring out his soul. "Penny, we're not even a week into this 'journey', but I was already faced with the opportunity to _kill_. This, this is not going to be as cut and dry as we thought. This- This is going to be one sick test of willpower and strength."

I was shaken by the truth in his words. What if I was faced with the same choice? What would I have done? I shivered, a chill running down my spine.

A single tear ran down his cheek, and he pulled me into an embrace and whispered, "If you're ever faced with a decision like that, promise me you'll make the right choice, Penny."

Sensing the seriousness in his voice, I solemnly replied, "I promise."

* * *

(Copper's POV)

Penny and Seth had returned to camp carrying several oran berries each. Penny seemed distant, off in her own little world, and Seth seemed… serious. It was almost intimidating to see the optimist so… blank. I told myself I would ask him about this later, no matter how concerning it was.

We had since left our camp, and begun the leisurely walk to Castelia. It wasn't far, but the walk was... strange. Seth had returned to his ever bubbly self, but Penny still remained distant. Eona and I talked about Castelia, making a plan to find Levi's Aunt. We would search until we found her; it was a pitiful plan, but we weren't left with many options.

I had tried to bring Levi into the conversation several times, but she always just looked away. She was deathly afraid of me, but I couldn't blame her. Her father was _terrifying_.

Before long we reached the gates to Castelia City. "You guys all ready? There's a pretty good chance we will have to fight. People in this City are rumored to be extremely hostile."

They all nodded in response, and we slowly entered. It seemed eerily quiet.

"Levi, do you have any idea where your Aunt lived?" Penny asked, trying to narrow down our exploration.

The younger Pokemon thought for a moment, then replied, "I remember my Mommy and I visited her once when I was little."

I internally chuckled at her wording; she still is pretty little if you ask me.

"I remember her house was, um, like, old and small. It wasn't very far into the city," she replied, trying her best to be helpful.

I smiled slightly; at least we had something to work off of now. We began to slowly progressing through the city, Levi giving either an affirmative or negative whenever we saw a home that remotely resembled her nondescript description.

We had been repeating this process for about an hour, when we came across a house that Levi seemed to think was her Aunt's. The house was old. The white paint was beginning to peel off, and the old rotting wood underneath was revealed. These cities always baffled me- how had a Pokemon managed to build all of this? Or was it even a Pokemon? And how had it fallen into such disrepair, even when people still resided here?

Penny, being Levi's caretaker, was the one to approach the door. She gently wrapped her paw on the door. You could hear light footfalls on the creaky hardwood floor, and then to door opened to reveal a feeble old vaporeon.

* * *

"Little Levi's father always was a menace… even before all of this. I always tried to convince my sister not to marry him, but she was having none of it," The older water-type explained, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Levi's Aunt, Mist, was a very bubbly and eccentric person despite her age. She was very understanding to little Levi's predicament, and graciously agreed to take her in, despite being angry and sad about what happened to her sister. She had openly told us a lot about herself; everything from how she hated her name, because "as an eevee, I was doomed to be a vaporeon. You don't really see any flareon named Mist running around…" or how that even though she didn't live a grand life, she was thankful for everything she had. She was definitely someone I would come to respect.

After staying and chatting with the hospitable vaporeon for a while, we decided it was best to depart before it got dark. "Well, we hate to have to leave so suddenly, but it is best we go now. We have more business to do in the city," I explained. We had recalled our tale to her, but left out the part about the prophecy: not everybody needed to know about that.

"Alrighty! Hopefully we'll run into you again sometime. Levi you should say your goodbyes," Levi's Aunt explained.

The smaller vaporeon ran up to Penny, and gave her a big hug, muttering something along the lines of "I'll miss you."

She came up to each of us in turn, and waved goodbye and gave some parting words- until she came to me. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but she was too scared. I didn't want to press her; she had gone through enough trauma in the past few days.

We all turned to leave, and continued on our way. Before we were out the door, a small voice yelled, "Wait!"

I turned around to see Levi run up to me again. Staring at her feet, she stammered, "T-Thank you for s-saving my life." She then did something none of us would have ever expected; she wrapped her paws around me. I cautiously hugged her back, not wanting to startle her.

"No problem," I smiled, "I'm sure this won't be the last time we'll see you though."

And so we went on our way, hopelessly searching for another vaporeon in a city full of water-types.

"So what's the plan now?"asked Penny, now reverted back to her old self.

"We should look for any who could possibly be part of the prophecy: at least until the sun starts to set. We don't want to be caught in Castelia at night; it's bad enough during the day," I surmised.

Our plan decided upon, we set out on our way.

* * *

"How much longer should we keep looking?" Seth innocently asked, "I mean, the only Pokemon we've seen all day, aside from Mist, were those marill and that oshawott."

"Not too much longer, then we should call it quits. We don't want-"

"Keep your grubby hands off of me!"

I stopped moving, and turned to my companions. I looked them all over, and we all silently agreed; someone was in trouble, and we were going to help. Again.

Following the voice, we ran through the city streets, until we came upon the damsel in distress and her tormentors- it was a wartortle, a poliwhirl, and buizel, and they were tormenting none other than another vaporeon. The aggressors had their victim pinned against a wall; not to say she still wasn't fighting back.

"Let go of me!" the vaporeon screamed while viciously kicking her legs at her oppressors. The kicking seemed to do nothing to deter them; in fact, it seemed to encourage the wartortle more.

"Looks like I got me a feisty one," cackled the turtle.

"Get away from me, Bruce!"

"C'mon babe, look around! Nobody is here to save you this time. Whaddaya say you come back to my place peacefully, princess," he replied, a devious smile plastered upon his face.

At that point the vaporeon seemed to notice we were there, waiting to help. She seemed relieved to have someone as back-up, but made no move to give us away. The brutes still had yet to notice us, being behind their backs.

"I'll never go peacefully you sick bastard!"

At this point, the wartortle, Bruce, lessened the already small distance between him and his victim, as if to attack.

"I gave you the choice to go painlessly, princess. But you blew it."

I grimaced. This is sick; this was a cruel world: first homicidal fathers, and now… this.

I quickly realized that I had two options: attack now and save her, or don't. It wasn't exactly a hard decision to make.

I closed my eyes and focused, trying to remember what my father had taught me. I had to reach; reach deep within the recesses of my heart, and dig into the depths of dark power that were stored in my body. I let out a piercing roar, revealing ourselves to our enemies. I veil of darkness surrounded me, and I charged at the wartortle, sending him flying into the brick wall. My actions a signal to the others, they all joined the fight.

From the start, it was obvious they were at a great disadvantage. Firstly, we had taken them by surprise, and secondly it was four to three- five to three if you wanted to count the vaporeon, who began fighting with us as soon as she was free.

The vaporeon immediately came to assist me against the wartortle, who was already injured from the initial hit.

"Aye, the girl is mine," he snarled, wheezing, "get your own fucking girl. Princess over here is _mine_."

I laughed at his naivety. I scorned him, "She is _yours_? As in your _property_? You make me sick. She is a living being, and deserves respect, unlike you."

Not even waiting for a response, I tackled him to the ground, landing with a thud. He tried to push me off, but was unable to, due to the sheer amount of damage he'd already taken.

"Look at you. You're pathetically weak; two hits and you're down. After Arceus knows how long you've victimized me, I still always fight back," the vaporeon taunted.

He smiled and said, "Ah, but you're forgetting something; I'm not here alone."

I laughed at the sheer ludicrousness of his statement. "And you think I did?"

I got off of him and took a step away, now not obstructing his view of the battle going on behind us- if it could even be called that. It was _domination_. Eona and Penny were running circles around the poliwhirl, leaving the larger Pokemon confused and vulnerable to their attacks. It may have been bigger, but it's movement was greatly restricted, and they were using the fact to their advantage. Meanwhile, Seth was speaking with the buizel who was backed up against the wall, and seemingly refusing to fight. The wartortle's eyes radiated defeat, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation.

"Your poliwhirl is just about ready to pass out, and your buizel is _refusing to fight_," I scolded, "You're fighting a losing battle."

"C-can you let us go?" he asked pitifully.

"You need to learn your place. The world isn't your playground, made solely for you to cavort around and do whatever you please; the world is meant to be shared by all of us. Grow up, and start acting like you should. It's pathetic that I have to tell you this. As far as I'm concerned, you can rot in hell," I fiercely reprimanded. I then looked over at the vaporeon, and she got my message- she slashed her claws across the wartortle's face, cutting through the skin.

I looked at the whimpering, bleeding mess of a Pokemon in front of me, and relented. "Get out of my sight before I do something I'm going to regret."

The Pokemon clambered up onto his feet, and scurried out of the alleyway with his buddies, leaving us alone.

"Thanks for helping me out," the vaporeon stated.

She looked to be about two years younger than me. Her eyes were crystal blue, just like Levi's. Even though she was younger, she looked as if she could hold up in a fight with almost anybody.

The others walked up to us, the short fight now over. Once we were all gathered around, my sister muttered something like, "Too many vaporeon…"

Hearing her remark, the water-type rebutted, "Hey! I didn't need your help anyways, I could've handled myself."

"Of course, but we just wanted to help in any way we could," Seth calmly replied, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Vienna." After a pause she continued, "Alright, thanks again for helping and all, but I gotta go. It's getting late, and my Mom's going to kill me."

I looked up at the sky above me; she was right. The sun was just beginning to fall below the skyline, descending the city into a dusk-like trance.

"...Wait, before you go…" Penny interjected awkwardly, "can you try, um, holding this orb for us?"

Vienna looked the glaceon up and down questioningly, but made no move to leave. I wordlessly pulled the sphere out of my bag, and passed it to the vaporeon in question. She cautiously picked up the orb in front of her- and it began to glow. It radiated a light tangerine color, with bright orange stripes evenly spaced around it.

She looked down at the orb, then back at us, and claimed, "You guys have a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

She sighed and looked up at all of us. "I suppose I could help: better than staying in this Arceus-forsaken city. But I should talk to my Ma first, just to let her know. I still think this whole thing is ridiculous though."

When I had first started to explain our purpose, she just laughed, and started to walk away. It was only once we physically showed her the prophecy, and how the orb lit for us as well, that it started to settle. I distinctly remember her asking us several times, "Is this some kind of joke?"

_Ha_. I wish.

She began to walk down the streets, presumably towards her home, and we followed. The whole walk, she continued to pester Penny and Seth with questions about, as she put it, "this whole saving the world business."

"How long will it take?"

"How long have you been trying already?"

"Wait, so we still have to find others?"

"How are we supposed to stop the war?"

"Why exactly do you need me here for this?"

They tried their best to answer her constant questions, but most of them not even I knew the answer to. This whole journey is just a shot in the dark. We have no idea what we're doing; It feels like it's a dream. This whole thing is surreal: and hopeless.

Before long, Vienna stopped us at what was likely her home- and it just so happened to be the same home- the one with the peeling white paint- that we were at not even several hours earlier.

* * *

Authors Notes: Hey again! I really like the beginning of this chapter with Penny and Seth, and I hope you did too. Please let me know how you thought the chapter was in a review; criticism would be greatly appreciated. And I would love you forever!

As before, Levi and Taint belong to roadie0787. Thanks for letting me borrow them!

Also, is there a way to say humanity, but like from a Pokemon's point of view? I always want to use the word humanity, but I can't because they aren't really humans… till next time!


	5. Strangers

Authors Notes: School officially sucks.

(Unknown POV)

_I briskly walked up the mountain path, trying to lose any potential followers; this was something I had to do alone. I exhaled, preparing myself for what was to come. This wasn't going to be easy._

_I looked up; a small cavern opened up along the side of the path. It was barely noticeable- unless you were looking for it. I pushed my stomach against the floor, and dragged myself through the crevice. The crevice soon widened, then opened up to a large, eerily dark cavern._

_A voice penetrated the darkness. "Who are you?"_

_I swallowed the lump in my throat. Was this really happening? "I- I am Infernus, son of Ignitus."_

"_Very well," the voice bellowed, "what is your purpose?"_

"_I- I have a request," I stuttered, "A favor, of sorts."_

"_What is your request, boy! Out with it!"_

_I nervously stammered, "Uh, I, well, um, it's more of a wish."_

"_Ah, I see," the voice replied, more calmly. "Before I can grant your wish, I must examine your morals. We cannot grant anybody this power. Will you permit me to enter your mind?"_

_Was this really what I wanted? Would I submit my mind to the probing of a stranger, a Pokémon of legend? The sanctity of my thoughts, my deepest regrets, aspirations, and achievements; they would all be violated. Was it worth it to let him see my deepest secrets? Yes. My whole life, everything I have ever done, everything I have ever thought, has led up to this moment, right here right now. This… this would change everything. It has to be done._

"_Y-Yes. I give you permission."_

_I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of nothingness. When was it supposed to start? How was it supposed to feel? This is kind of nerve racking… Then I felt it. I felt something pierce my thoughts. It wasn't exactly painful, yet I was very aware of its presence; it was definitely sharp, but I couldn't locate where the feeling was coming from. It was a very strange feeling. After some time, I felt the other entity leave my thoughts._

"_You… you have been through a great deal," the voice permeated the darkness once again. "You have suffered tragic losses, had great accomplishments and terrible losses. You have lived and loved, and time has taken its toll on you. You have once contemplated evil, but you now realize your mistakes."_

_There was a great pause. "I trust your judgment. What is your wish?"_

_I closed my eyes and murmured, "My wish is that- that every hope, and every dream would come true."_

_He paused, then replied monotonously, "If that is your wish, I shall grant it."_

_A huge blinding light built up, and flashed throughout the cavern, leaving me stunned._

"_It has been done."_

_A smile crept upon my face; I had finally done it._

(Eona's POV)

I woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. What the _hell_ was that?! That was the weirdest dream I've ever had… something about a wish? What was that all about… ugh, this is the last thing I need right now.

I looked up and panned my surroundings; the sun had yet to rise, but it was likely to soon. A graceful orange tint was beginning to grace the horizon with its beauty. It is _way_ too early for this. I looked around at my friends; they were all asleep scattered around the clearing, aside from my brother of course.

"Do you _ever _sleep?" I asked him incredulously.

He jerked his head up, startled. "What are you doing up this early?" he asked, ignoring my question.

I sighed. "It's a long story."

He gestured to our friends asleep all around us, then articulated, "We've got time."

How _do _I explain what happened? I remember everything so vividly; it was like I _was_ the person in my dream. It felt all too real…

"Erm, well, I don't really know how to explain what happened. I had a dream." He looked up at me expectantly.

"It was a really weird dream. It was like I was someone else, like I was seeing everything from their eyes. And it felt strangely real, as if I were living what was happening."

He had a look of concern in his eyes. "What was the dream about?"

I exhaled loudly. How do I go about this? "I don't know; I mean, I'll tell you what I saw, but I definitely was missing pieces of what was happening," I warned. "Well I- er, he was walking up a mountain, when he stopped at a crevice in the rock. He crouched down, and squeezed through the crevice, which then opened up to this huge cavern."

He was listening intently. Could this all mean something?

"Then a huge voice echoed around the cavern, asking him a whole lot of questions. Then the voice probed my- uh, his mind. Then it granted him a wish or something? He made his wish and it was over," I explained lamely.

He sat there for a moment, thinking, then attacked me with a barrage of questions.

"What kind of Pokémon were you or it?"

What kind of Pokémon was it? I never even noticed, or even thought to look.

Seeing my confusion, he moved to his next question. "Was the Pokémon quadruped?"

Seriously? _Seriously. _You figure by now he'd know he can't use big words around me.

"Did you have four legs?" he corrected himself.

"Yes." That one was easy.

"Alright, so that helps narrow down what Pokémon it could be," he replied thoughtfully. "What other questions did the voice ask of him?"

"The only one he gave a direct answer to was his name."

"Which was…?" he replied somewhat impatiently.

"Ig- something. Ignitus? No, that was what his father's name was. He said, 'I am Infernus, son of Ignitus.'"

"Alright, that helps a lot too. It was very likely a fire-type, and that narrows down things a lot more," he replied happily. "Now what was that whole wish thing about?"

"I don't even know. He was so confusing… the voice went into his mind to make sure he was pure of heart, or something. Then he wished for everybody's dreams to come true? It was weird."

He sat there, at a loss for words; he was clearly just as confused as I was. "Could it mean something? There's no way to tell as of now. Just promise me, Eona, that you will tell me if you have another dream, okay?"

"I promise," I solemnly replied.

The sun was beginning to rise above the horizon, signaling a new day. The light of the day slowly forced back the darkness of the night, and illuminated our little clearing. We would head out soon.

The events of the past few days had been ridiculous. Vienna's mother, Mist, had been understanding. We told her about our mission, and why we hadn't told her before. She even went so far as to jokingly say that "it's about time Vienna did something productive."

No, Mist wasn't the problem at all. The problem was Levi. She was very upset by the fact that her older cousin would get to come with us, but not her. She even went so far as to throw a tantrum; something I never would have expected the shy and reserved girl to do. In the end, it was Penny that calmed her down, promising that next time we ran into her she would be able to come with us, and that she was too young now. I am _positive_ that one is going to come back and bite us in the butt.

So Mist had let us spend the night in her cramped little house, and we left once again, albeit after another tearful goodbye from Levi. And now… here we are.

"We should probably get the others up," stated Copper, jerking me from my thoughts.

I nodded silently, and we both went around, more or less carefully waking them from their sleep. Once they were all at least _partially_ awake, we headed out once again, heading to who knows where. It was an awful plan; generally we just let Copper pick a direction, and we walked. Granted, it _had_ worked pretty well for us so far, but that luck was bound to run out.

As we began walking, I trotted up to Vienna, wanting to strike up a conversation. "You tired?" I asked jokingly.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm definitely not a morning person," she replied groggily, causing me to laugh. She is the only Pokémon I know that can sleep in later than me.

After looking around at everyone, she replied thoughtfully, "This whole thing is weird."

"Whaddaya mean?" I asked.

She stopped for a minute to formulate her words, then replied, "Like, as in this whole trip. There's no real plan behind it. Or even a set goal for that matter."

I couldn't argue with that logic. "Yeah, we don't exactly have everything figured out yet," I replied embarrassed, "but I've got faith that my brother will figure it all out. He thinks _a lot_. I don't know how he does it."

She laughed in reply to my joke. "Not to mention you kind of have a funny team dynamic."

"How do you mean?"

She scrunched up her face a little bit, then replied, "It's just... they way you all interact is kinda funny."

I giggled. "Yeah… we all do have our quirks. What do you think of all of us?"

She leveled her expression, then answered, "Your brother, Copper, is it? He seems kinda serious. Definitely seems like he's the group leader 'n stuff. He doesn't talk much does he?" She gestured up to my brother who was walking up ahead of us by himself, thinking.

"He doesn't joke around much," I affirmed.

"I feel kinda bad that he's up there alone," Vienna muttered sadly, "should we go up there and talk to him?"

"Nah, he's in one of his thinking moods. It's best he's left to himself for a little bit."

"If you say so." I knew all too well what he was thinking about- but Vienna didn't need to know about my dream just yet.

"Has his name always been Copper?" she asked, staring at the underbrush underfoot.

"Nope, actually it was Penny and Seth that came up with the nickname. His actual name is Copernicus," I recalled.

She tried to stifle her laughter, and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't _that_ bad, right?

"What about the rest of us?"

"You seem pretty cool, but I find it kinda surprising that your parents let you come and all. You are kinda young still," She stated straightforwardly.

I looked up and around me; the sun had been up in the sky for some time now- that wasn't what was abnormal. The forest was beginning to get denser, and it opened up less and less. You could hardly see the sky, because the enormous pines and oaks created a canopy overhead. It was… strange, to say the least.

"What do you think of Penny and Seth?" I asked, gesturing to the duo walking a little ways behind us, talking in hushed tones.

"Eh, they're kinda strange," she replied bluntly, looking back at them. "Are they dating or something?"

I couldn't help but laugh. So it _is_ obvious! "No, not yet."

"Ohh," she answered in realization, "so it's one of _those_ things."

"Yeah. She's head over heels for him, and he is pretty much the most oblivious guy on the planet," I told. Did he know? He is definitely one hard book to read. Actually, now that she mentioned it, they _are_ kinda weird. What were they talking about back there? I'll ask Penny about it later.

"Well Seth seems, like, super optimistic. I don't think I've ever seen him not smiling," she recalled. "And Penny… she comes off as a little bit awkward. But she seemed to care about Levi a lot, so she must be caring."

"Oh yeah, what's was Levi like before, you know, everything happened?" I asked, honestly curious. "She was always really shy and reserved around us."

She let out an incredulous laugh. "Hah, not at all. When she was younger, she was the most hyperactive and childish Pokémon I've ever met. Nobody could keep up with her."

_Wow_. That's really surprising- but I guess it just goes to show you how much something so traumatic can affect a child…

"What's the Castelia City like?" I actually was wondering; I never got the chance to be exposed to the city life.

"Loud. Crowded. Dangerous," she stated flatly.

"Hey, w-" I dropped off. I was going to ask about her abuser, Bruce was it? No, it was still too soon afterward, right? Best to leave it alone for now; I will ask her later on though. Just not now.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I replied.

Nothing at all.

We had been walking for _hours._

The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting the forest into an eerie, dusk-like trance. _As if it wasn't creepy enough already._

Left alone to my thoughts, my mind reverted back to the dream, putting me more on edge. It was just _so_ weird! I sighed; I needed to stop thinking about it- it's not as if I am going to magically all of the sudden understand what it was about…

I panned my surroundings, looking for something to distract me from myself.

Wow, that sounded weird.

The only things that caught my attention were a few Pecha berry bushes off to the side of us. Other than that, it was just the dense underbrush and the towering evergreens.

I was looking off into the shadows, when I noticed a sudden movement. What was that? I'm probably just imagining things again. Keeping my eyes strained on that spot, I continued walking. Something moved again! 

There was no doubt about it. We were being followed.

So as not to raise suspicions I slowly made my way up to my brother; it only made sense that he was the first one told. He was the leader of the group- and not to mention he can see well in the dark, being a dark-type.

Once I was next to him, I whispered, "We have a friend."

He looked at me questioningly, and I explained further, "We're being watched." I gestured over to where I saw the movement.

He scrunched his eyes and inconspicuously looked over in the direction I had pointed.

"Whatever it is, it's dark. Hard to make out."

"What should we do?" I asked him helplessly.

After a moment of thinking, he made his decision. "I'm going to try and catch it."

"WHAT?!" I shouted, just a little too loud.

He sighed, then explained, "Maybe I can catch whatever it is- and if not, at least I will get a good look at it."

My heart started pounding faster. I knew I couldn't dissuade him- once he had his mind set on something, he was going to do it.

After what felt like ages had passed, he leapt into action, chasing after the figure in the night. The figure looked up, startled at the sudden movement, then bolted. Soon out of sight, all I could hear was a small scuffle, then nothing.

Oh no.

Without realizing I had stopped moving I sat down, waiting. The others ran up to me, concerned as to what had just happened.

Vienna was the first to ask. "What the heck just happened?"

"There was something following us. Copper chased it."

There was silence; they realized I didn't really know much more than I did- and all we could do is sit there and wait.

Before long, Copper came jogging back into camp, looking slightly defeated. My stomach began to settle; at least he is okay.

We all sat down and patiently waited for him to catch his breath, then explain what had happened.

Once his breathing was back to normal, he started, "I was chasing it, and gaining ground too. I tackled him, but he shoved me off, and ran away again. Before I could catch him, I lost sight of him."

"It was almost like he disappeared," he stated, a puzzled expression on his face. 

"Did you get a good look at him?" Seth asked.

"Not even," he scowled, "whatever it was had a cloak on. Whoever it was has it all figured out… they've been following us for a while now."

This was scary. Like extremely scary. We've been being watched?!

Breaking the uncomfortable silence, my brother spoke again, "This is serious- much more serious than anybody had anticipated."

"Do any of you know anything about that?" he asked innocently.

Seth spoke up, "I don't know anything about that, but we should probably question his motives. What incentive could he possibly have for following us?"

He had a point- it's not like we had done anything to warrant being watched… granted, our own incentives might, but we hadn't done anything that suspicious, right?

"Maybe they were pro-war? But that doesn't explain why they would follow us," Penny added unhelpfully.

"Maybe they were just curious as to what the five of us were doing? They didn't necessarily mean any harm to us," Seth retorted hopefully.

"I think you're being a little too optimistic here, Seth," I explained, "if they just wanted to know what we were doing, they probably would have just asked. Not to mention to cloak…"

"I did NOT sign up for this," Vienna characteristically stated, eliciting a giggle out of Penny and I.

Trying to hide the smirk on his face, Copper stated, "I don't know much about what just happened… But I do know it's about time we set up night watches."

The rest of us all muttered in agreement; it made enough sense.

_Just to think we're only a week into this 'journey'- it's going to be one hell of a ride._

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! Sorry this chapter was kinda short; it was a little bit of a filler, even though I like to think this is where the story starts to get more intense. Either that or I'm stupid. Probably some combination of the two.

Anyways, reviews would be very much appreciated! Any kind of feedback is great.

Also, as I stated before, school sucks and I probably will not be updating as regularly as before (not that I won't try). Thanks again!


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